Clasp and buckle



March 27, 1962 M. BROCK cLAsP AND BUCKLE 4 Sheets-Sheet yl Filed July 2, 1959 March Z7, 1962 M. BROCK CLASP AND BUCKLE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 2, 1959 f INVENTOR. fm 7'0/1/ EPOC/f March 27, 1962 M. BROCK CLASP AND BUCKLE 4 sheets-sheet 5 Filed July 2, 1959 INV ENT OR.

March 27, 1962 M. BROCK 3,026,591

CLASP AND BUCKLE Filed July 2, 1959 4 sheets-sheet 4 54 F/G. l/A Y I INVENTOR. /wz /v/v woe/f 3,026,591 CLASP AND BUCKLE Milton Brock, 251 19th St., Great Neck, N.Y. Filed July Z, 1959, Ser. No. 824,684 8 Claims. (Cl. 24--233) The present invention relates lto a clasp or buckle construction.

It particularly relates to a clasp or buckle construction which may be used either in wearing apparel such as belts or in connection with closures for handbags or suitcases and in many other connections.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a simple, readily made, reliable buckle construction which may be utilized for a Wide variety of purposes and which will be attractive in appearance and may be manufactured at low cost and in various decorative styles.

Another object is to provide an attractive low cost buckle construction which may be employed in connection with various types of closures, whether on clothing or on various types of carrying cases, whether handbags or luggage, for giving a reliable, attractive closure thereto.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it lbeing understood, however, that this more detailed description 4is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by Way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without de parting from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most satisfactory, according to one embodiment of the present invention, to form a buckle construction of relatively engaging elements which t or turn in respect to one another which may be readily detached from one another.

In the preferred form of the present invention there are provided two removable elements, one being an outside or circular enclosure element and the other being an inside or interengaging element. These may be engaged and then turned toward one another to form a iinal closed buckle construction forming the closure for the article of clothing or the receptacle, as the case may be.

Desirably one of the elements if provided with a camming device and the other is provided with a resilient member on which the camming device rides so that the elements of the clasp or buckle may be locked by the action of said camming into closed position.

The cam may be placed either on the inside or female element or on the outside or male element or the cam and contact spring may be reversed.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination andrarrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view according to one form of buckle, according to the present invention, showing the buckle -in closed position.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the buckle of FIG. 1, showing the buckle in closed position.

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 3 3 of FIG. l, showing the buckle in closed position.

FIG. 3A is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of the cam arrangement as shown in FIG. 3 upon an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional View similar to FIG. 3, showing the action of the buckle in being opened, with mired States Patent 3,026,591 Patented Mar. 27, 1962 ICC the female or outer element being removed from the engagement with the main base structure.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view similar to FIG. 4, showing a further step in disengagement of the buckles.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view similar to FIG. l, showing two buckle elements altogether disengaged and separated `from one another after the separation action of FIGS. 4 and 5 has been completed.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 6, showing all three elements of the buckle disengaged from one another.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 7 in an alternative form of the invention where the cam and the spring elements have been interchanged.

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view similar to FIG. 3 of the embodiment of FIG. 8, showing the various elements engaged together.

FIG. 9A is a fragmentary enlarged transverse sectional view of a portion of FIG. 9 showing the cam arrangement of FIG. 9.

FIG. l0 is a top plan view of an alternative form of the invention, showing the buckle in closed position.

FIG. ll is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 11-11 of FIG. 10.

FIG. llA is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of a portion of FIG. 11 upon an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. l1.

FIG. 12. is a side elevational view, showing the manner in which the buckle of FIG. 10 may be disengaged.

FIG. 13 is a rear elevational view of the buckle of FIG. 10.

Referring to FIGS. l to 7, the buckle structure extends between the two loops or belt elements A and B and the base structure thereof indicated by the bracket F in FIG. 7 is formed of the ring C, the intermediate element D and the rod or bar element E, `all integrally collected together or cast as one piece, with the intermediate element D acting as a bridge between the ring C and the bar E.

The element E may be flattened on one side to act as a cam. The spring carrying structure G (see FIG. 7) has `an outwardly extending leaf spring H and the outside knob elements I.

Finally the loop element K has van engagement portion L.

The ring element C at its outer or left side, as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6, is engaged by the loop 10 of the belt or attachment element, which loop 10 is formed by the stitching 11.

The ring is of circular cross-section, as indicated at 12 in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, and `at its opposite side it is formed integrally with the humped or upwardly curved portion 13 Extending from the bumped pontion 13, and being wider, is the middle bridge portion 14 which terminates in a second humped portion 15, the lower end 16 of which is integrally mounted with the top 17 of the transverse bar or rod E.

The middle portion of the lower face of this transverse rod or bar portion E has a flat, as indicated at 18, which serves as a cam against the outer end 19 of the spring H, when the buckle is in closed position as shown in FIG. 3.

The spring has a neck, as indicated at 20, with an end rivet 21 which mounts upon the semi-circular plate portion 22. of the element G. The plate element has the outwardly extending arms 23 which project at 24 above the surface of the plate 22. (see FIG. 2) and which terminate in .the end portions 25, having recesses at 26 to receive the ends 2.7 of the rod E.

The nal loop element K has a relatively iiat, wide portion 28 engaging the loop 29 formed by the stitching 30.

The wide portion 28 has the side extensions 31 which turn inwardly, and then it has the angularly bent extensions 32 which terminate in the cross bar 33.

When the various elements are engaged, as indicated at FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the cross bar 33 will lie inside of the looped or humped portion 15 and directly above and inside of the cross bar E.

Extending over -the ends of the cross bar E will be the end portions 25 of the arms 23 beyond the knobs I (see particularly FIG. 3).

The spring H, as a result of being cammed against the flatted recessed face 18, will lock the bar 33 in position and will force the plate 22 against the bottom face 34 of the intermediate section 14. (This closed structure is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 with the bar 33 Iand the rod E both extending between the knobs I and the ends 25 of the arms 23.)

To open the buckle, the operation is as shown in FIG. 4.

The junction 35 adjacent the rivet 21 of the plate 22 and the spring H may be turned downwardly in the direction indicated by the arrow 35 in FIG. 4, releasing the spring H from the at 18 of the rod E.

This Awill result in the loop element K being moved in the direction of the arrow 37 in FIG. 4 and the bar 33 will then pass around the side of the rod E, as shown in FIG. 4.

Further movement of the plate 22 to the position of FIG. will enable the bar 33 of the loop K to be moved downwardly in the direction of the arrow 38 `and be disengaged.

In this position the end 19 of the spring H will be sitting against the a-t outside face 39 of the humped or end portion 15 ofthe sinuous element D.

After the loop K is removed, the intermediate element G may be separated from the assembly of FIG. 5 and removed, as indicated in FIG. 7, so that the ends 27 of the rod E are disengaged from the sockets 26.

'Ihe reverse operation may be accomplished by engaging the recesses 26 with the ends 27 of the rod E, in

which case the spring H will act either on the flat 18 in the position of FIG. 6 or on the flat side 39 in the position of FIG. 5 and it may be pivotally moved from the position of FIG. 5 to the position of FIG. 6 or in reverse.

When the loop K is engaged, the element G is turned down to the position indicated in FIG. 5 and the loop is slipped up on it in the reverse of the direction shown in FIG. 5.

It will be noted that the complete buckle is formed of the three elements F, G `and K of FIG. 7 which are detachably connected together in the manner indicated in FIGS. 1 to 6. p

In the arrangement shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 the buckle structure has the ring M, the intermediate sinuous portion N and the final rod P.

The intermediate element Q has the rod R. 'Ihe loop element S has the engagement position T. In this structure the ring M will carry the loop 50 having the stitching 51. l

The two hump elements 50a and 51a are connected by the intermediate curved portion 52 and they terminate in an end portion 53 having an elongated recess 54.

The recess 54 has a spring 55 held in position by the rivet 56 which engages and holds the central portion 57 of the rod R in position.

The at portion 58 of the element Q will normally `contact the lower curved face 59 of the sinuous portion S2. The open loop 60 will receive the cross bar 61 of the engagement portion T -at the end of the curved arms 62 of the flat 63 of the loop; element S.

As long as the llat 58 is turned up in the direction indicated by the arrow 64, the bar 61 will be held in position.

However, when the at 5S is turned down against the direction 64, there will be suticient space at spring 55 to slip over the plate 58 and release the loop element S. It will be 4noted lthat the spring element acts against the ats 65 and 66, which may be 90 apart.

In the embodiment of FIGS. l() to 13, the buckle may be composed of the base element U, the intermediate spring carrying element V and the loop element W.

The element V carries the leaf springs X, while the base element U carries the cam elements Y. As indicated, the belt element has a loop 81 which extends around and engages the bar 82, which extends between the two side arms 83, having semi-circular cam receiving elements S4.

The leaf springs X are riveted, as indicated at 85, to lthe base corners 86 of the U-shaped structure V.

The base element U has a large knob 87 which acts as a handle and has the sidewardly extending curved arms 88.

The cam elements Y extend outwardly from the ends S9 of the arms 88 into the recesses formed by the semicircular receptacles or cam receiving members 84.

The cam members have a quarter-circular curved tace 90 and two ilat faces 91 and 92 (see FIG. 12). These flat faces should descend against and be stopped by .the leaf spring X.

In FIGS. 10, 1l and 13, the leaf spring is contacting and acting against the at tface 92 of the cam elements Y, holding the buckle in closed position with the loop engaged between the arms 83 and the inside `face 93 of the base member U, as shown in FIG. 11.

The loop member W has a cross bar 94 which engages the loop 95 stitched into position at 96.

The curved side arms 97 terminate in the cross bar 98, which, in locked position, as shown in FIGS. 10, 11 and 13, is positioned between the spring carrying element V and the base element U.

When the base element U is turned in the direction 99, as shown in FIG. l2, the loop element W then may be removed around the arms 88 and lowered to the position in FIG. 12, and, if desired, by lifting the ends 10) of the springs X, the cams Y may be lifted out of the recesses formed by the semi-circular elements 84, and the base element U may also be removed.

The applicant has in FIGS. 10 to 13 provided a double spring element with the belt being attached to the intermediate element V and with the base element U carrying the cams which act upon the springs X.

This arrangement may be reversed, of course, so that the element V may carry the cams Y, while the base element U carries the springs X.

It is apparent that the applicant has provided a very simple, easily constructed basic buckle construction which may lbe attached to a belt, to the flap of a handbag or any piece of luggage to give an attractive and artistic novel buckle arrangement, having wide utilization, and which may carry ornamentation or plaques on the top of the base elements F, Q or U thereof.

As many changes could be made in the above clasp and buckle, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departure from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

l. A three piece buckle construction having a base member, an intermediate engaging member and a nal loop member, said members being rotatable in respect to one another and said base and intermediate members having coacting spring and cam members adapted to yieldably maintain said intermediate member in closed position with respect to said base member, said base member being of sinuous longitudinal cross section with a wide upwardly bowed central section and narrow reversely bowed end sections which end sections respectively integrally carry a belt engaging ring and a transversely extending cylindrical bar element the central portion of which is llatted to form said cam member and the ends of which engage said loop member and form pivotal connections to the intermediate member.

2. A three piece buckle construction having a base member, an intermediate engaging member and a final loop member, said members being rotatable in respect to one another and said base and intermediate members having coacting spring and cam members, said base member having a transverse element forming said cam member and said intermediate member having a longitudinally extending element forming said spring member, said spring and cam members being adapted to yieldably maintain said intermediate member in closed position with respect to said base member, said base member being of sinuous longitudinal cross section with a wide upwardly bowed central section and narrow reversely bowed end sections Which end sections respectively integ-rally carry a belt engaging ring and a transversely extending cylindrical `bar element the central portion of which is ilatted to form said cam member and the ends of which engage said loop member and form pivotal connections to the intermediate member.

3. A Ithree piece buckle construction having a base member, an intermediate engaging member and a iinal loop member, said members being rotatable in respect to one another and said base and intermediate members having coacting spring and cam members, said base member and said intermediate member having pivotal engagements, by -means of which they may swing on one another, and said spring member comprising a longitudinal leaf spring holding said pivotally engaged members together and coacting with said cam member to yieldably maintain said intermediate member in closed position with respect -to said base member, said base member being of -sinuous longitudinal cros-s section with a wide upwardly bowed central section and narrow reversely bowed end sections which end sections respectively integrally carry a belt engaging ring and a `transversely extending cylindrical bar element the central portion of which is atted to form said cam member and the ends of which engage said loop member and form pivotal connections to the intermediate member.

4. A three piece buckle construction having a base member, an intermediate engaging member and a nal loop member, said members being rotatable in respect to one another and said base and intermediate members having coacting spring and cam members, said base and intermediate elements having transversely extending recesses and bars to nt in said recesses and permit rotational movement therebetween, said spring member comprising a leaf spring means, said spring and cam members yieldably maintaining said intermediate member in closed position with respect to said base member and said spring member holding the rotational elements together, and said iinal loop element tting in between the swinging elements when the buckle is closed, said base member being of -sinuous longitudinal cross section with a wide upwardly bowed central section and narrow reversely bowed end sections which end sections respectively integrally carry a belt engaging ring and a transversely extending cylindrical bar element the central portion of which is llatted to form said cam member and the ends of which engage said loop member and formpivotal connections to the `intermediate member.

5. A three piece buckle construction having a base member, an intermediate engaging member and a final yloop member, said members being rotatable in respect to `one another and -said base and intermediate members having coacting spring and cam members adapted to maintain said intermediate engaging member -in closed position with respect to said base member, said cam member consisting of transversely mounting atted means on the base member, said intermediate member being of U-shape and having side legs and said atted means being formed of a centrally flatted transverse rod and extending between and engaging at its ends said side legs.

6. A three piece buckle construction having a base member, an intermediate engaging member and a iinal loop member, said members being rotatable in respect to one another and said base and intermediate members having coacting spring and cam members, said spring member acting on said cam member to close the intermediate member against the base member and hold the tina-l loop member in position, said base member being of sinuous longitudinal cross section with a wide upwardly bowed central section and narrow reversely bowed end sections which end sections respectively integrally carry a belt engaging ring and a transversely extending cylindrical Ibar element the central portion of which is atted to form said cam member and the ends of which engage said loop member and form pivotal connections to the intermediate member.

7. A three piece buckle construction having a base member, an intermediate engaging member and a final loop member, said members being rotatable in respect to one another and said base and intermediate members having coacting cam and longitudinal leaf spring members yieldably maintaining said intermediate engaging member in closed position with respect to said base member, said base member having pivot extensions each having a atted portion serving as one of said cam members, said intermediate member having said spring members and having recessed terminal parallel legs, the recesses of which act as sockets for said pivot extensions.

8. In a three element separable belt buckle and clasp arrangement comprising an intermediate curved plaque member with downwardly turned end bowed portions and a connecting reversely bowed central portion and a transverse cylindrical bar with a centrally atted camming face at the end of one of said end bowed portions and an integral circular ring at the end of the other end bowed portion, all integrally formed together, said ring acting as a belt end engaging member, said ring having an inside edge at one side and an outside edge at the diametrically opposite other side and the inside edge being integrally joined to said other end bowed portion, a U-shaped longitudinal at leaf spring carrying member having parallel side recessed legs to receive the ends of said transverse cylindrical bar, a leaf spring being mounted at one end on the base of the carrying member and extending parallelly to and midway between the legs, the end of said leaf spring between said legs riding on the centrally atted camming face, said camming .face and said leaf spring coacting to hold said carrying a member in closed posi- `tion with respect to `said plaque member, and a terminal lbelt engagement loop having a short cross bar at one side and a transversely extending recess to engage and fit upon said plaque member, said bar being positioned between said plaque member and said carrying member in closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 2,462 Davison et al Dec. 24, 1867 302,028 Raymond July l5, 1884 1,221,011 Anderson Apr. 3, 1917 2,453,993 Kreisler NOV. 16, 1948 

